Indictment Filed Against Robert Bąkiewicz for Inciting Violence Against Prime Minister Donald Tusk

Warsaw prosecutors have indicted nationalist leader Robert Bąkiewicz on three criminal charges, including public incitement to take the life of Prime Minister Donald Tusk during a Law and Justice rally.

Three Criminal Charges Filed Against Bąkiewicz

The Spokesperson for the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, Mateusz Martyniuk, announced on Friday, July 31, that Robert Bąkiewicz has been charged with committing three offenses during a public and media-broadcast speech on October 11, 2025, at Castle Square in Warsaw during a Law and Justice rally.

Robert Bąkiewicz, leader of the informal Border Defense Movement initiative, is accused of publicly inciting the commission of the crime of depriving Prime Minister Donald Tusk of his life or causing him grievous bodily harm, as well as inciting the same against unspecified individuals cooperating with the prime minister, whom he blamed for improper migration policy, serving Germany, and immigrants arriving in Poland.

Statements Qualified as Public Incitement to Crime

According to the prosecutor’s office, Bąkiewicz called for the violent removal of the head of government by using expressions such as eradicating a weed combined with the use of napalm—a phrase associated with mass extermination—and referencing the symbol of the insurgent scythe and swords, alongside statements asserting that the enemy must be finished off and that citizens must take up the scythe themselves.

These statements were classified by the prosecutor’s office as the crime of public incitement to commit a crime, which carries a penalty of up to three years in imprisonment.

Public Humiliation and Defamation Charges

The second offense Bąkiewicz has been charged with involves the public humiliation of the prime minister by calling him a traitor, a German lapdog, a German flunky, a coward, and a weed, as well as defaming him regarding conduct that could degrade him in public opinion or expose him to the loss of trust necessary for his position.

These acts carry penalties ranging from a fine, restriction of liberty, or imprisonment of up to two years for public insult or humiliation of a constitutional organ, and up to one year for defamation via mass media.

Incitement to Hatred and Nationalist Affiliations

The prosecutor’s office also charged Bąkiewicz with inciting hatred based on national, ethnic, and racial differences, with Prosecutor Martyniuk noting that Bąkiewicz formulated statements during his speech that provoked and intensified strong aversion and hostility toward people of German nationality and immigrants.

This act was classified by the prosecution as the promotion of totalitarian systems, which carries a penalty of up to three years in prison, while the prosecution emphasizes that incitement to hatred and violence constitutes an ex officio prosecuted crime in Poland.

Robert Bąkiewicz is the leader of the informal Border Defense Movement initiative, previously known as the organizer of the Independence March and an activist within national and patriotic circles, maintaining close ties to the right-wing political scene and the Law and Justice party.